NEW DELHI, May 27:
The defence modernisation had “slowed down” in the last few years and providing the required equipment to the armed forces in a speedy manner would be the top priority of the Modi Government, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said today.
“Speeding up the (procurement of) equipment required for their support are going to be priority areas as far as our Government is concerned.
“We are certainly concerned that in last few years, some of these areas had actually slowed down and therefore expediting them would be a matter of top priority,” he said while taking the “additional charge” of the ministry here.
He did not elaborate but was apparently referring to the delay in acquisition of modern equipment for the armed forces such as the 126 multirole combat aircraft, 197 light helicopters and a number of other acquisitions stuck up in the Ministry due to one reason or the other during his predecessor AK Antony’s regime.
Jaitley, who primarily holds the portfolios of Finance and Corporate Affairs, said the Defence Ministry is expected to get a full-time head in a “couple of weeks” after the expansion of the council of ministers.
Asked about the demand for raising the 26 per cent FDI cap in the defence sector, Jaitley said it needs a deeper look.
“This is an issue, which in both limbs, would be dealt by both my departments. It has already come up in in my preliminary discussions today and therefore I do not want to say anything more before I look deeply into the matter.”
He said if the 26 per cent FDI in defence had been “introduced during the Vajpayee Government… These are areas which I am personally willing to examine.”
Soon after taking over, Jaitley held a series of meetings with the various departments of the Defence Ministry.
He held meetings with the three Services chiefs, the Defence Secretary, Secretary (Exservicemen Welfare) and Secretary (Defence Production) and all the officers above the rank of Joint Secretary in the Ministry.
Rao Inderjit Singh has also joined the Defence Ministry as the Minister of State for Defence.
Meanwhile New Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley today pledged to contain price rise, restore confidence of investors in the economy and promote growth while keeping the fiscal deficit under check.
Stating that the country’s economy was passing through difficult times, he said, “the challenges are very obvious. We have to restore back the pace of growth, contain inflation, and obviously concentrate on fiscal consolidation itself.”
Veteran lawyer and senior BJP leader Jaitley was talking to reporters soon after taking charge of the Finance Ministry. He also said that he would be looking after the Defence portfolio as additional charge only.
“For a transient phase, I will be looking after Ministry of Defence also, but that’s only an additional charge till there’s an expansion in cabinet itself,” he added.
Referring to his priorities as Finance Minister, Jaitley said, “I am conscious of the fact that I am taking over at a very challenging time particularly when there is a need to rebuild the confidence of the Indian economy.
“The mandate with which our Government has received has an inbuilt hope in it…The political change itself sends a strong signal to the global community as also the domestic investors. I think over the next two months by expediting decision making processes we will be able to build on that.”
The Minister further said the entire policy of the new government would be spelled out in the next few days.
“You will have to wait for a few days before we spell out the entire policy of the new Government,” he said.
On whether he would focus on inflation at cost of growth, Jaitley said a “the balancing act” will have to done.
India had registered over 9 per cent growth for a few years before the global financial meltdown of 2008 pulled it down. The economic growth rate slipped to decade’s low of 4.5 per cent in 2012-13. It inched up to 4.9 per cent in 2013-14.
In the current fiscal the growth rate is expected to rise further to 5.5 per cent. (PTI)
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